Synthesis is the fourth studio album by American rock band Evanescence. It was released on November 10, 2017, by BMG Rights Management. The album includes reworked versions of the band’s previous material with an orchestral arrangement and electronica music elements, in addition to two new songs, thus making it both a studio album and a compilation album. David Campbell was responsible for the arrangement, along with Amy Lee and producer William B. “Science” Hunt. In order to promote the new material, Evanescence embarked on the Synthesis Tour, which opened on October 14, 2017, in Las Vegas and will visit cities across the United States and Canada until December.

Amy Lee may have intended the title of Synthesis, Evanescence’s fourth album, to represent the combination of the organic and artificial — or how the symphonic merges with the electronic — but this isn’t necessarily a huge leap from her earlier work. From the outset, Evanescence sampled seemingly contradictory styles — metal, goth, and prog were equal partners on their 2003 debut Fallen — so this transition to unabashed pomp and circumstance doesn’t seem sudden, especially as it’s arriving after a long six years. Synthesis also feels familiar because all but three songs (plus a piano solo) are taken from the group’s three previous albums, with selections from their eponymous 2011 album taking center stage at five selections. Immediately, it’s striking that the onslaught is a natural fit with Amy Lee, whose powerhouse vocals often wrestle the orchestra into submission. Next, the layered, skittering electronic rhythms grab attention, and far from keeping the music in a straitjacket, the precision of the beats help give Synthesis a steel spine, reinforcing the bombast of the band and strings. This successful fusion also amounts to a step forward for Evanescence, as this kind of proudly theatrical arrangement would suit Amy Lee well for years, and that’s why Synthesis doesn’t feel like a holding pattern: It feels like the start of a new chapter.